Hindus celebrate Holi, the Festival of Colors

Updated 6:51 PM ET, Thu March 28, 2013

Photos: Hindus celebrate Holi, the Festival of Colors27 photos

Hindus celebrate Holi, the Festival of Colors – Women take part in huranga at Dauji temple, near Mathura, India, on Thursday, March 28. Huranga is a game played a day after Holi, the Festival of Colors, during which men drench women with colored water and women tear at the men's clothes.

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Photos: Hindus celebrate Holi, the Festival of Colors27 photos

Hindus celebrate Holi, the Festival of Colors – Men are dragged on the ground to cover them in red water during huranga on March 28.

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Hindus celebrate Holi, the Festival of Colors – Men and women watch people taking part in huranga at Dauji temple on March 28.

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Hindus celebrate Holi, the Festival of Colors – Colored powder covers participants in Holi celebrations at the Banke Bihari temple in Vrindavan, India, on Wednesday, March 27. Wednesday marked the official beginning of the colorful annual Hindu festival that welcomes the arrival of spring.

Hindus celebrate Holi, the Festival of Colors – A man sprays a colored substance from an aerosol can on passersby during Holi on March 27 in Vrindavan.

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Hindus celebrate Holi, the Festival of Colors – Holi celebrants play with color at the Banke Bihari temple on March 27 in Vrindavan.

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Hindus celebrate Holi, the Festival of Colors – A young boy is engulfed in red powder by a friend as Holi celebrations hit the streets of Chennai, India, in this image by iReporter Ashok Saravanan.

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Hindus celebrate Holi, the Festival of Colors – Revelers cover each other with colored powder during Holi celebrations in Guwahati, India, on March 27.

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Hindus celebrate Holi, the Festival of Colors – A boy splashes water on another boy smeared with colors in Chennai on March 27.

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Hindus celebrate Holi, the Festival of Colors – People celebrate Holi in Mathura, India, on March 27.

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Hindus celebrate Holi, the Festival of Colors – A woman squints as she looks out from under her veil after being smeared in colored powder in Vrindavan, India, on March 27.

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Hindus celebrate Holi, the Festival of Colors – Hindu devotees throw colored powder, known as gulal, during early Holi celebrations at the Banke Bihari temple on Tuesday, March 26, in Vrindavan.

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Hindus celebrate Holi, the Festival of Colors – People celebrate Holi in Kathmandu, Nepal, on March 26.

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Hindus celebrate Holi, the Festival of Colors – A Hindu priest throws colored powder at devotees on March 26 in Vrindavan.

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Hindus celebrate Holi, the Festival of Colors – Hindu devotees wait for priests to reveal the statue of Lord Krishna at the Banke Bihari temple on March 26 in Vrindavan.

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Hindus celebrate Holi, the Festival of Colors – A shopkeeper sets up water canon for sale in a market ahead of the festival in Bhopal, India, on Monday, March 25.

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Hindus celebrate Holi, the Festival of Colors – Widows sit on the ground during celebrations at the Meera Sahavagini ashram in Vrindavan on Sunday, March 24. In Hindu culture, widows are expected to renounce earthly pleasure, so they do not celebrate Holi, but for the first time, women at the shelter for widows who have been abandoned by their families celebrated the festival by throwing flowers and colored powder.

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Photos: Hindus celebrate Holi, the Festival of Colors27 photos

Hindus celebrate Holi, the Festival of Colors – Men drag a boy on the ground to cover him in reddened water in Nandgaon, India, on Friday, March 22. Lathmar Holi takes place before Holi, officially, in the Nandgaon and Barsana villages and is deeply rooted in Hindu tradition, but Lathmar Holi revelry has taken place all over during the past week.

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Hindus celebrate Holi, the Festival of Colors – Men covered with colored powder and water stand inside a temple in Nandgaon, India, on March 22.

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Hindus celebrate Holi, the Festival of Colors – A man flings pink powder over celebrants in Nandgaon on March 22.

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Hindus celebrate Holi, the Festival of Colors – Devotees brace for another barrage of colored powder at the Radha Rani temple in Barsana, India, on Thursday, March 21.

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Hindus celebrate Holi, the Festival of Colors – Transgender revelers dance as others play with color on March 21 in Barsana.

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Hindus celebrate Holi, the Festival of Colors – Devotees throw colored water at each other at a temple in Barsana on March 21.

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Hindus celebrate Holi, the Festival of Colors – A devotee sits at the Ladli Ji temple during Lathmar Holi celebrations on March 21.

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Hindus celebrate Holi, the Festival of Colors – Colored powder fills the air during Lathmar Holi in Barsana on March 21.

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Hindus celebrate Holi, the Festival of Colors – A man sifts colored powder to be used during celebrations on the outskirts of Siliguri, India, on Wednesday, March 20.